Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was the circuit for this past weekend, October 24th-26th. It is known for being the highest-altitude track on the Formula 1 calendar. The season is starting to come to an end; with Mexico City being round 20, only 4 rounds remain. Every point matters and the drivers have to be more competitive and aggressive than ever before.
Free Practices
FP1. 9 of the drivers during FP1 were rookies. The FIA has a regulation where every driver has to give up their car for 2 sessions per season for a rookie driver. Many teams chose this race to do so as the track conditions were not representative of qualifying or the Grand Prix.
Most impressive was Arvid Lindblad who drove Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, outperforming Yuki Tsunoda. Nevertheless, the top 3 finishers were current grid drivers.
Start
A key characteristic of this circuit is the 0.52 mile long straight before turn 1. This gives drivers the opportunity to overtake, and that they did at the start. With championship leader Oscar Piastri starting 7th and Max Verstappen starting 5th, aggressive attempts to gain positions were bound to happen. Verstappen went wide, getting pushed into the grass. Despite this, he moved up into position 4. Piastri, on the other hand, was not so lucky; he moved down to 11th. Lando Norris made it through unscathed, moving into clean air and extending his lead.
Throughout
On lap 6 Hamilton and Verstappen got pushed into the grass leading to Ollie Bearman moving up to position 4. Hamilton ended up receiving a 10 second time penalty for leaving track and gaining advantage. Going onto the grass instead of the escape road gave him a 1-2 second advantage.
Piastri ended up using a 2 stop strategy and Antonelli followed suit. This was successful for Piastri as his quick stop allowed him to pass Antonelli in the pit lane.
Russell was very vocal on the radio about switching positions with his teammate Antonelli to attempt to pass Bearman. He failed, thus returning the place to Antonelli.
End
This race could not have turned out any better for Lando Norris. His pace was incredible, resulting in a 30 second lead. With Norris far ahead, the battle for second took place between Verstappen and Leclerc. Verstappen was on soft tires while Leclerc was on mediums, thus Verstappen had a quicker pace and should have been able to catch him by the end of the race. Unfortunately for Verstappen, a virtual safety car was deployed on Lap 70 due to Sainz being stranded, ending the opportunity for him to pass Leclerc. Norris, Leclerc, and Verstappen were the podium finishers for this race. Interestingly, these were the same drivers on the podium at the last race, the United States Grand Prix.
Conclusion
Norris now leads the Drivers Championship with 357 points, just one more than Piastri with 356. Verstappen now has 321 points, 36 behind Norris. This is the first time in 189 days that Norris leads the Drivers Championship. The battle for the title has never been closer between the two McLaren drivers and much is still up to change in the remaining 4 Grand Prixs. The next round is in São Paulo, Brazil, home of Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto.
Grand Prix Podium
1st- Lando Norris
2nd- Charles Leclerc
3rd- Max Verstappen
Driver of the Day- Ollie Bearman (9th → 4th)
Fastest Lap of the Day- George Russell
Career Best- Ollie Bearman (4th)
